Thursday, 16 July 2009
23:04

Leading airline of South India Paramount Airways, which recently expanded its operations after launching flights to Kolkata and North East India, has now decided to fly on international routes in Quarter Three of 2010. The airline will fly to Far East destinations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok and also to Colombo, Mauritius and Maldives. It will also operate flights to Middle Eastern destinations such as Doha, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. This information was provided by C R Kannan, Assistant Vice President, Public Relations and Communications, Paramount Airways.

Kannan further informed that the airline will also operate flights to Europe and US in 2011. “We are confident to begin international operations in Quarter Three of 2010. The airline has large number of committed passengers on domestic routes and we will able to get that passenger support on Paramount’s international routes also,” said Kannan. Currently, Paramount Airways holds 27 per cent market share in South India. On the domestic front, the airline is planning to connect Tier – II and Tier – III cities of India, especially smaller towns. It plans to operate flights to Ranchi (Jharkhand), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Cooch Behar (West Bengal) soon.

Taking a step further in flying overseas, the airline recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus to buy ten A321 aircraft with an option of additional ten. A321 belongs to the Airbus family of A320 that includes A318 and A319. A321 can accommodate total 185 passengers in two class configuration and 220 passengers in single class configuration and is powered by CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 engines. The airline, which currently connects a total of 16 destinations in India, will soon add one more aircraft Embraer 170 (E170) to its current fleet size of five that includes Embraer Jets such as E175 and E170. The Embraer 170 can accommodate total 72 passengers with single class configuration (Business Class).